34
INDUSTRY NEWS
VICTORIA NATIONAL
Two pandemic cancellations and a flood.
The dramatic efforts Reddrop Group endured to host its ‘Gold’ standard 2022 Conference Pre-pandemics, in 2019, the Reddrop Group held its first Conference at the Vibe Hotel and Conference Centre in Marysville, Victoria. The conference included 23 Reddrop Group team members from 14 stores, including store managers, the operations team and 11 suppliers/companies and 3 guest speakers. The conference was excellent and a trial run for ‘bigger things to come’…so they thought… Fast forward to 2020, with a cheeky theme of “20/20 Vision”, the Reddrop Group Conference was welcoming more suppliers (and additional stores) and was ready to share its vision to expand and invest in new stores and refurbishments over the coming 24 months. Accommodation, suppliers, venues, transport, menus, golf competition, guest speakers and all the other measures needed for a successful conference were ready to go; and then the Covid19 pandemic hit, causing the Reddrop Group to cancel their May 2020 event. A second attempt was short lived for the same event to be rescheduled for November 2020, but with the world and Australian supermarket retail was in turmoil, the conference was to be postponed until further notice.
L-R: Michael Reddrop, FoodWorks CEO Rick Wight, Lincoln Wymer
In 2021/22 the Reddrop Group worked towards a third try at holding their conference, using the venue previously organised in 2020, RACV Goldfields Resort in Creswick. But in keeping with the uncontrollable nature of the previous two years, a massive storm hit the resort causing extensive damage to the venue and the Reddrop Group was given only six weeks’ notice to find a new venue. After an “all hands were on deck” approach to find a large enough venue, the Reddrop Group secured
mga.asn.au | Aug 2022 | Edition 4
Michael Reddrop addresses attendees at the conference
